Out with the old, In with the new

And so we end another year, reflect and look forward to a new one. In the everyday routine of days, we often feel we are in an endless cycle of eat, sleep, work, weekend and repeat. But when Tanya and I reflect on what 2014 was to us, we can point out some fairly noteworthy accomplishments.

We moved to our new apartment on Freseniusstrasse.  We have some kind and friendly neighbors. We take walks through the nature preserve across the street or take strolls down the hill into town. The best of everything.  
Tanya got a new job with a promotion and is enjoying her career immensely. Her garden in summer is the envy of the neighborhood. Jay started taking golf lessons and practices at the driving range regularly. He looks forward to improving and to becoming a regular at the golf club. His German language skills still need work, but progress is being made.

We had some interesting and fulfilling travels in 2014. We visited seven different countries, including Ireland, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Hungary. We experienced several great cities this year: Dublin, Budapest, Paris, Oslo, Dresden. And, we took three trips back to the US. Seventy-five nights on the road.
The Guinness Brewery, opera houses in Budapest and Dresden, the natural beauty of Norway, Notre Dame at midnight, the flowers of Colmar, the somber dignity of the US military cemetery in Luxembourg and the joy and laughter with family and friends in Portland, Newport Beach, Monterey, San Antonio and Cologne will be our fondest memories of 2014.

                      Happy New Year and Best Wishes to Everyone for a wonderful 2015!  

                                           

Weekend in Köln: Christmas Market, Friends and Family

Last weekend we spent a fun weekend in Köln, meeting up with friends we met on a cruise of the Mediterranean last year and meeting one of my cousins and his family for the first time.

Our opera-loving friends, Jürgen & Det

Our friends, Det and Jürgen, introduced us to opera when we first met them  and they invited us to join them for a performance of The Damnation of Faust at the Köln opera house. While not technically an opera, more of a choral performance with orchestra, this work by Berlioz was very enjoyable. The soprano and baritone were excellent and it was a great evening of music. But the most important thing was being able to see our friends again and to have tea and coffee in their beautiful home. The two also encouraged us to keep up our blog. I didn't know we had any readers, but now I'm inspired.

The other highlight was finally meeting my cousin, Thorsten zur Jacobsmühlen, his wife Jozefina, and their two daughters, Sophie and Isabella. We connected via Facebook and while we aren't exactly sure how we're related, our best guess is that our great-grandfathers were brothers. We plan on meeting his sister later next year who is the chief researcher of the family tree. Apparently, we have records tracing our family back to 1530. For second-generation Americans, like Tanya and me, it really gives us a sense of history and connectedness to Germany, or as my grandparents called it, "the old country".


And, of course, no visit to any German city at this time of year would be complete without spending some time at the Weinachtsmarkt. Köln has five of them and we successfully toured three. Glühwein anyone?